Eyes
by TechGeek95
Summary: He looked into her eyes and knew he had lived a good life. One-Shot


It was her eyes that first caught his attention. He was sent to kill her, but he hesitated when he looked into her eyes and didn't see what he had expected from the supposed heartless assassin. There wasn't any hatred or the need to fight that he would usually see. There was nothing. It was like she had given up on life and didn't care anymore. It was then that he decided that SHIELD would be the best place for her, give her a purpose. She may be an assassin but she was still human. That day an American saved a Russian. Clint Barton saved the person that would become Natasha Romanoff.

Over the next few years, Barton watched as eyes of Natasha Romanoff became full of life and purpose. She had been quiet and hesitant at first but slowly came out of her shell, at least when he was around. He liked to think that he helped it happen; his heart would skip a beat every time she would laugh at one of his stupid jokes and he would get butterflies in his stomach whenever she sent one of her beautiful smiles his way. It took a long time for him to admit it to himself, but five years after first staring into those hypnotically green eyes, Clint Barton finally admitted to himself that he was head over heels in love with his partner, Natasha Romanoff.

But unknown to him, the former Russian felt the exact same way.

It would be a few years later, after a particularly difficult mission in Budapest, that they would finally admit this to each other. They had underestimated the difficulty of the mission when their handler, Phil Coulson, had sent them on their way. It sounded simple, take out the local arms dealer and be home for dinner. They had stupidly let their guard down and it end with Hawkeye being captured to be held and tortured for five days before his partner could find and save him. The only thing that could keep him sane was the image that was imprinted upon his brain of the eyes of the woman he loved as she realised he was being taken, and he promised himself that he would always find his way back to her.

He awoke a few days later at a SHEILD medical facility. His partner sitting quietly at his bedside and her eyes filled with relief when he turned to look at her. Almost immediately he spoke the three little words he had waited to say for so many years. He pulled her in for a deep kiss when she unexpectedly leaned in and repeated his words back to him.

There was only one woman in this life for Clint Barton, and he finally had her.

Life was good, for a few years anyway, until things began to change. Natasha being sent to work for Tony Stark was like a catalyst. Sure, their feelings for each other never changed, but looking back that is when their lives began to spiral. Whilst she was babysitting Tony Stark in Malibu, he was watching over Norse Gods and a mystical hammer in New Mexico. Soon after, she was sent to Russia and Clint was stuck looking after a load of scientists and a glowing cube. Before they knew it they hadn't seen each other in six months. He honestly missed her. She was his anchor, and he was hers. He missed staring into her eyes before going to sleep each night, because seeing her happiness and content was what kept him going.

But soon things went from bad to worse when a portal appeared where he was stationed and all went to hell.

When Coulson called her during a mission she knew something was seriously wrong. Her mind had gone blank when he told her that Barton was compromised. Everything afterwards was a blur. Recruiting Bruce Banner, flying to Germany to capture the Loki and then interrogating said god. But everything suddenly slowed down when she came face to face with the man she loved. He was her equal in every way, including hand to hand fighting. Once she had successfully knocked him out, all she could for was that the man she had known for so many years would return to her.

He did and was he looked into her eyes when he woke up, he knew everything would be ok.

After taking down Loki and his army, the group now known as the Avengers soon went their separate ways. For Clint and Natasha this meant getting the hell away from New York. Right now, Clint was in a bad place. He had killed innocent people whilst under the influence of Loki and it was only by keeping Natasha at his side that kept him sane. But he began to doubt whether he was good enough now. Sure, he saved her when he first met her, but she had saved him so many times since. He felt weak and unworthy. But, when he tried to walk away she wouldn't let him. She told him that separate they were weak, but together they were strong. He didn't think he had ever loved her so much as he did right then.

They went back to New York and moved into Avengers tower, and for the first time, the pair had found a place where they both truly belonged.

After two years with the Avengers, SHIELD called Natasha in to help Captain America with the Winter Soldier. Before leaving, Clint gifted her with an arrow pendent, to let her know he was always with her. When she was gone, Clint was called out to another situation in DC that was seemingly unrelated to Natasha's mission with the Captain. But it was. In the end it was a showdown between the Captain and the Winter Soldier, while Hawkeye and Black Widow took care of his minions. Shooting as many as he could, Clint took down 20 men before he was shot in the back.

Natasha watched as the man she loved went down. She took down the last remaining men without thought and ran to his side.

He stared up towards her and as he took his final breath, he stared into those amazing green eyes, and he knew he had lived a good life.

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**I own nothing. Seriously, I'm a student, I own my laptop and the slices of cold pizza in my fridge that's all.**


End file.
